- McClatchy Newspapers
WASHINGTON --
What began as an administrative complaint over the opening of a factory in South Carolina has grown into an all-out political brawl on its way to becoming a major presidential election issue involving unions and the future of U.S. capitalism.When an administrative law judge takes up the National Labor Relations Board's case against Boeing in Seattle on Tuesday, he will incite Republicans, who accuse President Barack Obama of attempting to thwart job growth to appease union cronies and advance big-government policies.
"All eyes will be on Seattle next Tuesday, when one of our nation's greatest assets and contributors to our economic future will be put on trial for investing, creating and innovating at a time when we are in the middle of an economic recession," U.S. Lamar Alexander, R-Tenn., said on the Senate floor last week.
MCT FILE PHOTO - Construction of Boeing's 787 Dreamliner in Charleston turned into a political battle focusing on the company's decision to locate in a right-to-work state.
At issue is whether Boeing engaged in union-busting with its 2009 decision to open a plant in North Charleston to make 787 jets for airlines around the world. Those airlines already have pre-purchased more than 800 of the aerospace giant's cutting-edge Dreamliners.
Experts say the case could take years to wind its way through the labor board and courts, and even then, its resolution is not likely to affect Boeing's new S.C. plant.
The National Labor Relations Board's top lawyer says Boeing built the factory in South Carolina, a right-to-work state with few labor disputes, to retaliate against its unionized employees for past strikes at the Fortune 50 firm's hub in Everett, Wash.
Lafe Solomon, the labor board's acting general counsel, said "a thorough investigation" led him to file the April 20 complaint that will get is first formal airing in the Seattle courtroom.
"During this hearing, all parties will have a chance to present their arguments and evidence," Solomon said. "It will be up to the judge to weigh that evidence and issue a decision."
Boeing, the world's largest aerospace company, appears undeterred by the proceeding. The firm held a ribbon-cutting ceremony Friday outside its new plant, next to Charleston International Airport, even though the facility won't open until next month and won't produce any Dreamliners until the fall.
Boeing officials said the ceremony's timing - just days before the Seattle hearing - was coincidental, not an in-your-face gesture aimed at Washington.
"We at the Boeing Co. are celebrating an important day in American manufacturing," said Sean McCormack, communications head of the firm's government operations. "We are confident that we will prevail against the National Labor Relations Board complaint, but today for us is not about that dispute."
Republican leaders were less measured in framing the symbolic factory opening as a political shot aimed at Obama and unions that have made millions of dollars in campaign contributions to him and other Democratic candidates.
Gov. Nikki Haley, South Carolina's first female governor, used risqué slang in hailing the ribbon-cutting and pledging her state's full support in Boeing's struggle against the labor board.
"We are going to fight for you, we're going to support you, we're going to be a cheerleader, and we can't wait to see those mack-daddy planes come out of here," Haley told Boeing officials flanking her at the factory-opening ceremony.
"South Carolina earned the right to build airplanes for Boeing in our state, and no one is going to take that away from us," said U.S. Sen. Lindsey Graham, a Seneca Republican.
Graham, a military lawyer who was in private law practice before joining Congress in 1995, derides the labor board case as a "frivolous" act of "political theater."
Virtually every major business group, from the Chamber of Commerce to the National Association of Manufacturers, is backing Boeing in the dispute.
Those Republican-leaning groups, along with their hundreds of member companies, have provided their own millions to GOP political candidates.
Obama aides have refused to comment on the case, saying the NLRB is an independent agency that must operate free of White House influence.
Experts say the case could take years to wind its way through the labor board and courts, and even then, its resolution is not likely to affect Boeing's new S.C. plant.
The National Labor Relations Board's top lawyer says Boeing built the factory in South Carolina, a right-to-work state with few labor disputes, to retaliate against its unionized employees for past strikes at the Fortune 50 firm's hub in Everett, Wash.
Lafe Solomon, the labor board's acting general counsel, said "a thorough investigation" led him to file the April 20 complaint that will get is first formal airing in the Seattle courtroom.
"During this hearing, all parties will have a chance to present their arguments and evidence," Solomon said. "It will be up to the judge to weigh that evidence and issue a decision."
Boeing, the world's largest aerospace company, appears undeterred by the proceeding. The firm held a ribbon-cutting ceremony Friday outside its new plant, next to Charleston International Airport, even though the facility won't open until next month and won't produce any Dreamliners until the fall.
Boeing officials said the ceremony's timing - just days before the Seattle hearing - was coincidental, not an in-your-face gesture aimed at Washington.
"We at the Boeing Co. are celebrating an important day in American manufacturing," said Sean McCormack, communications head of the firm's government operations. "We are confident that we will prevail against the National Labor Relations Board complaint, but today for us is not about that dispute."
Republican leaders were less measured in framing the symbolic factory opening as a political shot aimed at Obama and unions that have made millions of dollars in campaign contributions to him and other Democratic candidates.
Gov. Nikki Haley, South Carolina's first female governor, used risqué slang in hailing the ribbon-cutting and pledging her state's full support in Boeing's struggle against the labor board.
"We are going to fight for you, we're going to support you, we're going to be a cheerleader, and we can't wait to see those mack-daddy planes come out of here," Haley told Boeing officials flanking her at the factory-opening ceremony.
"South Carolina earned the right to build airplanes for Boeing in our state, and no one is going to take that away from us," said U.S. Sen. Lindsey Graham, a Seneca Republican.
Graham, a military lawyer who was in private law practice before joining Congress in 1995, derides the labor board case as a "frivolous" act of "political theater."
Virtually every major business group, from the Chamber of Commerce to the National Association of Manufacturers, is backing Boeing in the dispute.
Those Republican-leaning groups, along with their hundreds of member companies, have provided their own millions to GOP political candidates.
Obama aides have refused to comment on the case, saying the NLRB is an independent agency that must operate free of White House influence.
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